Wednesday, February 29, 2012

The family of a private investigator brutally axed to death are furious a report on the reasons for his collapsed murder trial is yet to be published.

The murder of Daniel Morgan in 1987, who ran his company Southern Investigations with partner Jonathan Rees in Thornton Heath, has seen five failed murder investigations, with the last, in March 2011, leading to admissions of police corruption by Scotland Yard.

His brother Alastair Morgan, angry at the police failures, has demanded a judicial inquiry but has been told it cannot be considered until a report by the Metropolitan Police on the reasons behind the collapse has been completed.

Due at the end of January, this report has yet to be published. Mr Morgan, 63, said: “We have completely lost faith in the police. We want a judicial inquiry so we can be shown all the material and see for ourselves what they know about Daniel’s murder.

The delay is typical, you get the feeling the whole thing is a deliberate attempt to prolong things but we will keep up the pressure until we know the truth.”

A meeting with Home Secretary Theresa May in December saw her state no decision on an inquiry would be made until the report was produced.

Mr Morgan said: “When they announced the report at first I didn’t care – I know why the trial collapsed, police cock-ups in disclosure, mishandling of evidence and the use of super-grasses.

Since it has become an obstacle to the judicial inquiry it has assumed a much greater importance.”

The reasons behind Daniel’s murder have never been discovered, but his brother believes he had stumbled across information over police corruption in the days before his death.

He said: “The Thursday before he was killed he said to a neighbour ‘You wouldn’t believe what I have found out – all police are bastards’.”

He met Mr Rees, who has gone on to be linked to phone hacking while working at the News of the World, at the Golden Lion pub in Sydenham, and hours later was found dead.

A spokesman for the police said: “We accept there are lessons to be learned arising from the discontinuance of the latest trial.

“To this end, and together with the CPS, we are engaged in a joint review to ensure relevant issues, particularly in relation to disclosure and the handling of witnesses, are understood and addressed.

“This review is ongoing and, on completion, the findings will be shared with the family of Daniel Morgan.

Leading Labour MP Tom Watson is due to launch a scathing attack on the Metropolitan police handling of the case at the House of Commons today.

Mr Watson is expected to link corruption within the force to individuals suspected of phone hacking